Here are some thoughts from Bethany on setting up a workshop-based classroom for 9th graders:
The problem with my demonstrating workshop in the graduate school
classroom is that you don't get to see all the ways you have to TEACH
students to engage in their authentic education.
So, yes. Workshop works great with all ages--in fact it was developed for
elementary school and is only rarely used in high school settings, even
though it should be. If you are concerned about students not using their
time well or not choosing mini-lessons they need to go to or attending
mini-lessons they don't need, you have to teach them a mini-lesson about
how to do it. You have to say, "we're going to give you two choices today.
You can either work on your project all of class, or you can work on your
project and attend a mini-lesson about epidemiology. How will you know
which one you should do? Here is a chart to help you think about your
situation." Then I would show them a chart that says on one side, "You
should attend a mini-lesson if you: are interested, need the information
to move forward in your project etc. and You should work on your project
if you are: Behind, already have a plan to complete for today etc. Then I
would ask the students to turn and talk about what they think their choice
might be and see if they have any questions about the mini-lesson that
will help them make their decision. Then, finally, I would go around and
make every student say their choice out loud and I would write their names
on the board. This provides accountability for their choice and helps you
see who thinks they will be where.
Then, for the first time this mini-lesson/project time split happened, I
would do another quick mini-lesson on expected behaviors for each choice.
Students need to know that when you're teaching the mini-lesson, they
can't interrupt you to ask about their projects. You are not available.
So, they will need to have some explicit techniques for dealing with their
questions or issues (like asking the other teacher or asking each other or
waiting and working on another part (VERY difficult for 9th graders). Also
make a chart of the expected behaviors so that you can use them in
reflection of the day and see how things went or if there are other
supports students needed. Also, if the independent workers totally bomb
and don't work and talk too much or something, you can use the chart to
reassert expectations and ask them what was hard about meeting them. That
will give you a lot of information about what they need. They will improve
the next time.
When you are planning using a workshop model, there are three possible
mini-lessons to teach: 1) content 2) skill 3) behavior expectations and
you just teach them as you see students need them. Skill lessons need the
I do, You do, We do model. The others can be more or less creative.
A warning: If you move toward a model like this, you will have to be
comfortable with relinquishing control of learning and behavior. If you
say you are going to teach a mini-lesson and cannot be interrupted, then
you have to do that and NOT be interrupted except if a student is in
danger. You CANNOT interrupt yourself to tell people to get back to work
or to answer questions etc. You have to make the two choices and work
spaces distinct. That means that students WILL be off-task sometimes in
independent work (but honestly, they are off-task when you're monitoring
them, too). You can address it AFTER you've done the work you said YOU
were going to do. Students can be accountable a few minutes later. They
will still know they weren't working etc. (And if they really seem to not
be aware of whether they are working or not, then you have a different
issue to address--their personal engagement with their own behavior and
learning. Many students are constantly tuned out because that is what we
have asked them to be and because they are 9th graders). When you move to
a model like this, you have to think about behavior as learning rather
than as management. And you have to teach behavior and work with it as it
relates to learning. It's different than how we usually run classrooms.
The end goal is to create students who know what they need for their own
learning and behave in ways that allow them to do that learning. Right
now, in general our system rewards compliance over authentic struggle and
learning. It creates learning sickness in students who don't or can't
comply and the symptoms of learning sickness are many, as I'm sure you see
in the classroom.